Opinion formation in the kinetic exchange models: Spontaneous symmetry breaking transition

TL;DR

This paper introduces a minimal multi-agent opinion formation model exhibiting spontaneous symmetry breaking, leading to polarized opinions, and analyzes its behavior through an iterative map and theoretical approximation.

Contribution

It presents a novel opinion formation model with symmetry breaking transition, adapting kinetic exchange dynamics from wealth distribution studies.

Findings

The model shows a transition from non-polarized to polarized opinions.

The iterative map captures the statistical features of the model.

Theoretical analysis aligns with numerical results.

Abstract

We propose a minimal multi-agent model for the collective dynamics of opinion formation in the society, by modifying kinetic exchange dynamics studied in the context of income, money or wealth distributions in a society. This model has an intriguing spontaneous symmetry breaking transition to polarized opinion state starting from non-polarized opinion state. In order to analyze the model, we introduce an iterative map version of the model, which has very similar statistical characteristics. An approximate theoretical analysis of the numerical results are also given, based on the iterative map version.